Note 84 — Chapter IX

We insert the inscription, written as it is with evident sincerity:—

“To the Right Honourable the Countess of Huntingdon, that eminent example of the Christian candour here recommended, and of every other virtue and grace which can inspire, support, and adorn it—the Author, finding himself (after repeated attempts) incapable of writing any dedication, under the restraints which her humility, amidst its utmost indulgence, has prescribed him, or to mention any excellence which would not seem an encomium on her, has chosen thus most respectfully to inscribe this Discourse; entreating that his farther silence in this connexion may be interpreted by her Ladyship, and by every Reader, as the most sensible and painful proof he can give of the deference, veneration, and grateful affection with which he is her Ladyship’s most obliged and obedient humble servant.”